Cuts will increase inequality

Another report this week blows out of the water government claims that the cuts will be ‘progressive’.

Evidence from Sweden, Canada and Finland shows that cutting public spending hits the poor hardest, whilst tax cuts benefit the rich. In all three countries, public spending cuts in the 1990s widened the gap between the richest and poorest – increasing it to worrying levels.

The coalition’s spending cuts are hitting private-sector businesses and jobs, too. The latest insolvency figures show hundreds of companies dependent on public -sector contracts, are going bust. Many others, including firms running care homes, are facing financial difficulties. This damaging trend is taking hold even before the biggest cuts hit home.

Public sector spending cuts threaten to derail our economic recovery and could spark a double-dip recession. The government must listen to the warnings.